The dual aims the Halberg Trust are honouring sporting excellence and ensuring people with a disability have the opportunity to be active.
The Halberg Trust was founded by Sir Murray Halberg over 44 years ago. It has the dual aims of honouring sporting excellence and ensuring people with a disability have the opportunity to be active.
Westpac is the principal sponsor of the Halberg Trust and supports this charity in a variety of ways.
Westpac Halberg Awards
Widely regarded as New Zealand’s premier sporting evening, the Westpac Halberg Awards celebrate our country’s sporting achievements in 2008. The event was held in Auckland on Tuesday 3 February 2009, at Vector Arena.
Outstanding performances by New Zealanders over a range of sporting disciplines resulted in 53 nominations being considered for the 2008 Westpac Halberg Awards. We would like to offer our congratulations to all category and overall winners.
The Halberg Sport Opportunity Programme
As well as sporting awards, the Halberg Trust places a key focus on community programmes. The Halberg Trust Sport Opportunity Programme ensures people with a disability can take part in activities within their communities.
Statistics indicate that one in five New Zealanders have a physical or mental disability of some sort. These people are often excluded from everyday activities we all enjoy, such as participating in sports and leisure.
The major objective of the programme is to provide people with the skills and confidence to take part in sport and leisure with their peers.
The programme’s vision is to enable more people with a disability to be more active, more often.
The programme works in the following areas
- within the community – ensuring that all people with a disability have the opportunity to be involved in community events
- in schools – working in partnership with schools to enable disabled children to have the same sporting, physical education and leisure opportunities as their peers
- in clubs – ensuring sports clubs are fully inclusive by providing training for coaches, assisting with policy development and the provision of adequate resources and equipment
- with funding – promoting The Halberg Trust Activity Fund which provides grants to young people living with a disability
- with education delivering sport and leisure training workshops to assist community providers, teachers, coaches and community leaders, and direct practical support to include people with a disability in regular sport and physical activity programmes.
Westpac’s aim is to help those with a disability make the most of their lives. We encourage our staff to support the Halberg Trust in its mission to bring the fun and satisfaction of sport to a group of people who are normally excluded.
A number of Westpac staff use their annual volunteer day to help with one of the Trust’s activity days or to raise money to fund specialised sports gear.
